Traveler&#39;s belt



United States Patent TRAVELERS BELT Royace H. Pipkin, P.O. Box 1615,Raleigh, N.C.

Filed July 15, 1958, Ser. No. 748,683

3 Claims. (Cl. 2301) This invention relates to a belt which isconvertible to a coat hanger.

The object of this invention is to provide a belt which is convertiblebetween a belt and coat hanger so that the belt serves the doublepurpose.

Often travelers find lodgings without coat hangers making it quitedifiicult to keep the clothes orderly or at least, quite annoying to tryto do so. The invention solves this problem by a specially constructedbelt having means by which to hold a portion of the belt rigid againstmovement in one direction so that the belt can be shaped approximatelyin the form of a triangle with the tongue end of the belt equipped witha hook or made to function as a hook for hanging the belt, now in coathanger formation, so that it can receive garments of any type.

A further object of the invention is to provide a practical devicecapable of converting between use as a belt and use as a coat hanger.When used as a belt, there is no characteristic marking which wouldidentify the belt from other conventional belts. In other words, itlooks very much like if not identical to an ordinary belt when used assuch. Part or all of the mechanism by which to convert between the beltand coat hanger functions, is concealed and when worn, all of themechanism is concealed.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of a belt of this invention showing thebelt oriented to function as a coat hanger.

Figure 2 is -a fragmentary plan view, parts broken away, of the centralpart of the belt showing the mechanism by which to retain parts of thebelt rigid against movement in one direction.

Figure 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the buckle of the belt.

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the buckle of the belt.

Figure 5 is an elevational view of the tongue end of the belt showing acollapsible hook that is suggested for hanging the belt when functioningas a coat hanger.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken at right angles to theplane identified at 66 but showing only the hinge construction.

In the accompanying drawings there is a convertible belt 10 to exemplifythe principles of the invention. The belt selected for illustration is atwo-ply belt having plies or panels 12 and 14 jointed at theirlongitudinal edges by rows 16 and 18 of stitching. In this type of beltthe means 20 for enabling the belt to function as a coat hanger, can becompletely concealed. These means are located in the pocket 22 formedbetween panels 12 and 14, although it is to be understood that means 20need not be completely concealed. For single ply belts, the same means20 can be attached to the inner surface of the single panel or ply fromwhich the belt is made.

One end of belt 10 has a special buckle 26 thereon- The buckle prong 28is special in the sense that it has a file 30 on one surface thereof. Inaddition, there is a short panel 32 attached to the frame 34 of thebuckle, the frame being approximately rectangular whereby the buckleframe and panel 32 cooperate to form a bottle opener.

The tongue end 36 of the belt has a hook 38 attached to it and on thesurface of the belt that would face the wearer, whereby hook 38 isordinarily concealed. The hook has a shank 40 attached by rivet 42 orsome other fastener, to the belt end 36. The bill 44 of the hook ismadein two sections connected together by hinge pin 46. A small arm 50protrudes from one of the sections and is adapted to engage the other ofthe sections so that the hinged movement between the sections of thebill of the hook has a limit established by arm 50 striking the adjacent section of the bill. The full open position of the hook is shownin dotted lines in Figure 5. To hold the hook in place when it is notbeing used as such, a small spring clip 52 attached to end 36 of thebelt, receives the pivoted end section of the bill of the hook, holdingit in place.

The previously referred to means 20 are flexible when moved in onedirection but become rigid when moved beyond a predetermined point inthe opposite direction of movement. This is necessary so that when thebelt is used around the waist of an individual, it will flex properly toencircle the waist of the person. But, when used as a coat hanger thenecessary rigidity exists. The means 20 shown in Figures 2, 6 and 7 arelimited to the central or back part of the belt by transverse rows ofstitching and constructed of a chain of hinged members with the hingescapable of being moved in one direction (see Figure 7) but incapable ofbeing moved in an opposite direction with respect to each other. Typicalmember 60 is made of a flat plate that is substantially T-shaped at oneend when viewed from above (Figure 2). It has a wider part 62 and anarrower part 64 extending from one of the longer edges of wider part62. Sleeve 66 extends transversely across part 64, and there is a stop68 protruding laterally from sleeve 66. A pair of sleeves 70 and 72having their longitudinal axes in alignment, and spaced from each other,are on the longer edge of part 62 opposite to that edge from which part64 extends. Hinge pin 74 is passed through the aligned sleeves 70 and 72and through a sleeve 78 of the adjacent member, sleeve 78 being the sameas sleeve 66 in construction and function. The adjacent member 80, beingconstructed identical to member 66, has a stop 82 which fits over asurface of member 60 enabling the member 80 to swing or hinge about pin74 in one direction only. That is, stop 82 limits the amount of motionthat members 60 and 80 can have between them. It can move to a positionwhere they are approximately coplanar and from this position can move inone direction only, this being sufficient to enable the belt to beplaced around the waist of a person to serve the usual belt function.

Sleeve 66 of member 66) is disposed between the spaced sleeves 84 and 86of member 88. The member 88 is also adjacent to member 60 and on theopposite side thereof from member 86. Hinge pin 90 is passed throughthe. two sleeves 84 and 86 that are aligned with each other, and throughthe sleeve 66 of part 64 of member 60 there by hingedly connecting themembers 60 and 88 in the-- same way that members 60 and 80 areconnected. Stop 68 abuts a surface of member 80, also limiting thepivotal movement of the members 60 and 80 just as stop 82:

limits the pivotal movement between members 60 and 80. Although numerousmeans may be used to attach the means 20 to the belt, the pocket wallsformed by panels 12and 14 serve as a fastening device for means 20.

, When used as a coat hanger, the conversion between the belt andthe'coat hangertentails only the following: Belt is placed on a'table orsome other supporting surface and outstretched with the inner surfacefacing downwardly. Tongue end 36 is inserted up through the invertedbuckle frame 34 and engaged with the tongue 28 which prevents the buckleframe 34 from sliding downwardly. Hook 38 is unfastened and is madeready for use. The center section 93 of the belt containing means 20 isheld flat on a supporting surface while the twosides 94 and 95 arehinged beyond pocket 22 in the regions 96 and 97. The means 20 preventsflexing cludes a plurality of links hingedly attached to each of section93 except in a direction which the specially constructed means willallow. The portions 94 and 95 of the belt between regions 96, 97 and thebuckle do not move inwardly toward each other or toward the section 93because they are held taut by the weight and rigidity of section 93while the hanger is suspended.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the'exact construction and operation shown anddescribed, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalentsmaybe resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

11. A belt construction adapted to be converted from a waist encirclingbelt to a garment hanger comprising an elongated flexible panel having abuckle at one end and means on the other end for detachable engagementwith the buckle, a portion of said panel including means for preventingflexing thereof in one direction for forming a rigid bottom of atriangle formed when the panel is suspended from a support connectedwith the joined free ends thereof with the inner surface of the panel,

when used as a belt, facing outwardly whereby said other, each of saidlinks including a projecting stop on one end thereof for engagement withan adjacent link for limiting the pivotal movement in one directionwhile permitting pivotal movement in the other direction.

3. A belt construction adapted to be converted from a waist encirclingbelt to a garment hanger comprising an elongated flexible panel having abuckle at one end and means on the other end for detachable engagementwith the buckle, a portion of said panel including means for preventingflexing thereof in one direction for forming a rigid bottom of atriangle formed when the panel is suspended from a support connectedwith the joined free ends thereof with the inner surface of the panel,when used as a belt, facing outwardly whereby said means for preventingflexing in one direction is rendered effective to prevent downwardflexing of the bottom of the triangle, said portion of the panel flexingin the flexible direction thereof when encircling the waist of a wearer,the other end of the elongated flexible panel being provided with afoldable hook normally disposed in concealed relation within the areadefined by the panel and adapted to be unfolded into operative positionfor engagement with a support thus suspending the structure when in theform of a coat hanger.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,332,449 Stafford Mar. 2, 1920 2,558,583 Robins June 26, 1951 2,766,459Stiglin Oct, 16, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 213,558 Great Britain July 17,1924

